Method of copying written or printed documents executed in carbonaceous inks



UNITnn STeTns PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE H. BALL, OF VVATERVLIETyNEW YORK.

METHOD OF COPYING WRlTTEN OR PRINTED DOCUMENTS EXECUTED IN CARBONACEOUSINKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 468,777, dated February16, 1892.

Application filed May 5, 1890. Serial No. 350,682. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. BALL, of "Watervliehin the county ofAlbany and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Method ofCopying Written or Printed Documents Executed in Carbonaceous Ink; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, that will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same.

Heretofore it has been considered impossible to produce a copying-presscopy of a document executed by the manifolding process, wherein theduplicates are produced by means of paper coated with a preparation ofcarbon, and the same difficulty has been experienced in obtainingcopying-press copies of typewritten documents when produced bycarboncoated ribbons.

The object of my invention is to provide a method by which manifoldcopies obtained by means of ordinary carbon-paper and documentstype-written by means of carbon-coated ribbons can be reproduced clearlyand legibly an indefinite number of times irrespective of the time whichmay have elapsed after the production of the document to be copied.

To carry my invention into effect the document to be copied should bemoistened with a liquid solvent, by which the carbonaceous matter on thedocument will be impregnated and softened to a sufficient degree topermit a portion of the carbon to become freed from the paper, so thatwhen pressure is applied thereto while the document is still moist asuflicient quantity of the freed carbon willbe transferred to the paperon which the copy is to be made, and thereby a clear, legible, and exactcopy of the original will be produced. The liquid solvent used in mymethod is preferably composed of glycerine, acetic acid, and water insubstantially the following proportions-via, two-fifths glycerine,two-fifths wa-. ter, and one-fifth acetic acid; but the essentialingredient is glycerine, which may be combined with any other suitablesubstitute for the other ingredients to form an equivalent liquidsolvent for this purpose.

In practice the'preferable method employed is to moisten the documentand the paper on which the impression is to be made with the liquidsolvent. For said paper the oiled tis sue-paper commonly used for carbonmanifolding is preferable, then placing the copyin g-paper and thedocument, fixed face to face between two pieces of blotting-paper, on asheet of rubber, and then subjecting the whole to pressure to effect atransfer of the carbon matter from the document to the surface of thecopying-paper.

When a freshly-executed document is to be copied, the operation abovedescribed can be proceeded with at once; but when the document to becopied has been made along time previously a little time should beallowed to permit the solvent to soften the carbonaceous matter beforeapplying the required pressure for obtaining the copy. When the documentto be copied is written or printed on both sides with carbonaceousmatter, two copies thereof can be made simultaneously by. my method byplacing the document to be copied between two sheets of oiledtissue-paper, previously moistened with the liquid solvent, placing thesame between two pieces of blotting-paper on a sheet of rubber, and thensubjecting the whole to pressure sufficient to effect the transfer ofthe carbon matter to the sheets of copying-paper.

For the purposes of my method ll find that a machine in which pressureis applied by means of a roller is most effective; but a modified effectmay be obtained by an ordinary copying-press. By this method letters andother documents executed with carbonaceous matter may be copied manytimes at different periods, each of said copies being reproduced in aperfectly clear .and legible manner.

I am aware that a solution of alkaline earths or certain salts haveheretofore been employed for the purpose of rendering ink transferablein the process of preparing metallic plates for anastatic printing, theplate having been first subjected to the action of hydrochloric acid asa preparatory step to the transference of the matter thereto; but inthis earlier method the ink used for executing the document or engravingwas required to he possessed of the quality of resisting the action ofan acid that was used to eat awaythe parts of the surface of the platethat was un- IOC protected by the ink, the parts of the plate protectedby the ink being thereby left in relief or raised above the adjacentsurface of the plate, so that a coating of ink could be applied to theraised portions for the purpose of obtaining impressions therefrom. I donot claim such a process; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,isv p 1. The method herein described for copying documents executed withcarbonaceous inks or other carbonaceous matter, the same consisting infirst moistening the document With a liquid solution, substantially asherein described, whereby a portion of the carbon on the document willbe softened and set free, next fixing the document face to face incontact with copying-paper, and finally subjecting said document andcopying paper jointly to pressure, whereby the freed carbon Will betransferred from the surface of the document to the surface of thecopying-paper, substantially as herein specified.

2. The method herein described for copying documents executed withcarbonaceous inks, the same consisting in first moistening the documentin a liquid solution composed of glycerine, Water, and acetic acid,substantially GEORGE H. BALL.

WVitnesses:

WM. H. LoW, S. B. BREWER.

